Our first, second, and third concerns: science, science, and science
Because of how we’re structured, how we conduct our research, and the elite collection of scientists we have working with us, the Buck is in a unique position to define the approach for solving many of the biggest problems facing the world today. The Buck’s leadership works every day to ensure our scientists have the support and resources they need as they tackle these immense challenges.
President and CEO
Dr. Eric Verdin
Eric Verdin is the president and chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. A native of Belgium, Dr. Verdin received his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) from the University of Liege and completed additional clinical and research training at Harvard Medical School. He has held faculty positions at the University of Brussels, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Picower Institute for Medical Research. Dr. Verdin is also a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Verdin joined the Buck in 2016 after spending the previous 20 years as a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, where he served as associate director from 2004 to 2016.
Dr. Verdin’s laboratory focuses on the role of epigenetic regulators in the aging process. His laboratory was the first to clone a family of enzymes called HDACs, which regulate histone acetylation. Dr. Verdin studies how metabolism, diet, and small molecules regulate the activity of HDACs and sirtuins, and thereby the aging process itself and its associated diseases, including Alzheimer’s. He has published more than 210 scientific papers and holds more than 15 patents. He is a highly cited scientist and has been recognized for his research with a Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and a senior scholarship from the Ellison Medical Foundation. He is an elected member of several scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. He also serves on the advisory council of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the NIH.








Contact for more information
and Scientific Operations
Jill Stevens Kinney
Chair of the Board of Trustees
With more than 30 years of experience, Jill Kinney is an industry leader in the world of health and fitness. After founding Club One in 1991, Jill built it into a $90 million business with over 3,000 employees. She repurchased the company in 2014 and expanded its scope by establishing one of the first fitness/healthcare partnerships. Today, the company, now known as Active Wellness, is among the largest fitness management companies in the US. Jill is also a pioneer in digital health, having merged her weight loss and behavior improvement program, Itrim, with the digital wellcare platform Moni Health, a medically reimbursable, clinically validated weight loss and behavioral change program. Jill attended UC Berkeley and lives in Marin County.




















Her current position, Senior Vice President of "The Schwabacher Group" at Morgan Stanley. She concentrates on consulting for affluent families. Her comprehensive planning includes helping with asset allocation, assisting with investment policy formulation, manager search, performance monitoring and due diligence. Each client’s investment plan is customized, providing access to tax advice, estate planning strategies, philanthropic objectives with family and institutional goals. Theo is a fourth generation San Franciscan. Her grandfather and father were both involved in the brokerage and investment banking business and sold their company, Schwabacher and Co. to Dean Witter in 1968.
Her own philanthropic participation has led her to participate on many boards in San Francisco. These include the San Francisco Cancer Society, Red Cross, San Francisco Mental Health Association, Merola and the San Francisco Opera Board. Her professional associations include Technical Analysts Association of San Francisco, Certified Investment Management, and the Morgan Stanley Presidents Club from 2006-present. Her current affiliations include: Morgan Stanley Women’s Business Exchange, The Women’s Global Warming Initiative, and National Women Board of Entrepreneurs. She co-chairs Women Corporate Directors Foundation of Northern California, which helps create diversity on public boards.




Co-Director, Einstein Institute for Aging Research
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Research
Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
University of California, Berkeley
Professor, Laboratory of Genetics
Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease
The Salk Institute
Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology
Jesse and Caryl Philips Foundation Chair
The Salk Institute
Co-Director, Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging
Director, Dog Aging Research Project
University of Washington
Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Director, Memory and Aging Center
University of California, San Francisco
Joseph B. Martin Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Neurology
University of California, San Francisco
Princeton University
Howard Hughes Investigator
University of California, San Francisco
Howard Hughes Investigator
University of California, San Francisco
Mr. La Follette received a B.S. and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Mr. La Follette resides in San Francisco with his wife, Ellen. They have four grown children that all attended Harvard as well.
Support the Buck
We rely on donations to support the science that we believe will add years to people's lifespan and decades to their healthspan.